EDITION 1027
8 JULY 2024

To quote the great Stevie Nicks, "the landslide will bring it down". And so it transpired for Rishi Sunak's government last week. Now, it's time for Keir Starmer to go his own way as the UK's new leader. Last week, we asked what question you would ask the now former prime minister if you met him socially. Decorum dictates that I can't reveal some of the suggestions I received, but the question what is your biggest disappointment to date seemed the most popular from the choices I presented. You can view the poll result below.

Moving on, a recent study found that if you're part of generation Z, running five to 10 minutes behind is still considered to be on time. But only 40% of millennials agreed, while the number was even smaller for generation X (26%) and baby boomers (20%). So this week, I ask: Would you fire an employee who is habitually late, even though their work is consistently excellent? VOTE HERE

As another week slips by, here are 10 things which caught my attention and may have escaped yours. Please feel free to share on social media and forward to your colleagues and friends so they can also subscribe, learn and engage. I would be very grateful if you did.

William Montgomery
Editor and CEO of TEN

1. How to be a work-life role model. Everyone struggles to find the right balance between work and life. As a leader, how you personally handle this challenge influences your team members. They are looking to you for signs of what they can and should do. READ MORE

2. Resilience is key to England’s success. The quarter-final win on penalties over Switzerland in Dusseldorf was another graphic example of a team making life difficult for themselves but still prevailing. This is an England team who struggled to break down Denmark and Slovenia in two draws in Group C. They only got past Slovakia and Switzerland, the latter on penalties, after extra time in the knockouts. They have not set pulses racing and yet they are still in the last four. Meanwhile, a YouGov survey revealed that half of Britons have a favourable opinion of England manager Gareth Southgate – more than any UK politician. The same survey discovered that 32% of Britons think senior politicians should be expected to watch the final if England make it. Editor

3. Difficult decisions to fix economy. Rachel Reeves will warn that she must “make difficult decisions” to "fix the foundations of the economy" in her first speech as Chancellor today. As she lays out her plans to business leaders in central London, she "will try to pin the blame of economic failure on the past 14 years of Conservative-led governments". The Conservatives say Labour's plan has a £2 billion black hole that early tax increases will need to fill. Two think tanks, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation, both agree that tax rises could be needed in order for the party to balance the books. Labour will remove the VAT and business rates exemption from private schools and experts believe it might also move on the 25% tax-free lump sum that pension savers can currently draw. The Independent

4. Europeans most 'vacation deprived'. German and French workers take the most days off per year, but they are the first to say they feel "vacation deprived", a recent report by Expedia has found. The study, which surveyed more than 11,500 professionals in 11 countries, reveals that in Germany 84% of workers feel they lack sufficient holiday time despite taking an average of 27 days off per year. Similarly, 69% of French workers, who take an average of 29 days off, feel the same. By contrast, 65% of Americans – who take the fewest days off annually at around 11 – say they feel vacation deprived, while in the UK, it was only slightly more than half at 56%, although workers holiday an average of 27 days. Fortune

5. Global birth rate dropping. Two-thirds of the world’s population now lives in countries where the total fertility rate (TFR) – a measure of births per woman per lifetime – has dropped below 2.1, the number needed to keep the population constant. According to the UN, the global TFR had reached 2.3 in 2021; it will soon drop below the 2.1 replacement rate, if it hasn’t already. In the UK, the rate stands at 1.49, having dipped below 2.1 in the early 1970s. In Europe, the TFR is now 1.5; in East Asia, 1.2; in Latin America, 1.9. This trend has surprised some demographers, many of whom have spent years worrying about an overcrowded planet. The Lancet

6. Millions to pay lower summer energy bills. Millions of households will pay lower gas and electricity bills this summer as the energy price cap for Great Britain falls by £122 a year to the equivalent of £1,568 for the typical annual charge. However, the latest cap applies only from July until the end of September, and bills are expected to rise again this winter, leaving millions struggling to heat their homes. Last Monday’s adjustment reflects lower costs in the wholesale gas and electricity markets – but bills are still more than £500 a year higher than they were before Russia’s war on Ukraine upended global energy prices. The Guardian

7.  Climate-driven inflation looms. Climate change is increasingly driving up food prices, causing concern among central banks worldwide. A recent European Central Bank study suggests that annual food inflation rates could rise by up to 3.2 percentage points within the next decade due to higher temperatures. This could lead to an increase in overall inflation of up to 1.18 percentage points by 2035. From olives in Sicily to cocoa in West Africa, extreme weather events and shifting weather patterns are affecting crop yields and pushing up production costs and, consequently, consumer prices. Central banks are now debating how to respond to this persistent inflationary pressure, with some economists calling for alternative inflation control tools beyond traditional interest rate adjustments. Financial Times

8. New car sales fall for ninth consecutive month. Sales of new cars to private buyers fell for the ninth consecutive month in June down -15.3%, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Year to date private sales are down 12%. Private sales accounted for 38% of total sales in the first half compared to 45.8% in he first half of 2023. In total, new car registrations rose in June by a modest 1.1% to reach 179,263 units. As a result, so far in 2024, 1,006,763 new cars have been registered, up 6% on the previous year but still down -20.7% on 2019. Motor Trader

9. Tales from the hustings. While canvassing in east Yorkshire, Labour candidate Karl Turner was able to win back a voter by clearing up a simple misunderstanding. “We met a guy who said he was going to vote Labour but wouldn’t now, because he had just heard that we were taxing condoms,” he recalled “I said, ‘Condoms?’ ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I just heard on that [pointing to the TV] that you are taxing condoms, and I’m not having it.’” Turner was baffled, until an aide worked it out. “We’re taxing non-doms, not condoms,” Turner explained. “Oh,” the man replied, and shouted into his house: “Margaret: they’re taxing non-doms, not condoms.” Daily Mail

10. The bottom line. HMRC figures revealed that the number of people paying the top 45% rate of UK income tax is set to pass one million for the first time this year, due to the freeze on thresholds, more than doubling in three years. The number of Britons paying the higher 40% rate is expected to rise to 6.31 million in 2024/25. Metro